Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Because of high single-agent activity and modest toxicity, we hypothesized the combination of gemcitabine (G), vinorelbine (V), and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (D) would be an effective salvage therapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL).

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

A total of 91 patients participated. GVD was administered on days 1 and 8 every 21 days at doses of G 1000 mg/m(2), V 20 mg/m(2), and D 15 mg/m(2) for transplant-naive patients, and G 800 mg/m(2), V 15 mg/m(2), and D 10 mg/m(2) for post-transplant patients.

CONCLUSIONS:

GVD is a well-tolerated, active regimen for relapsed HL with results similar to those reported for more toxic regimens. High RRs in patients in whom prior transplant failed confirms this regimen's activity even in heavily pretreated patients.